I hope that you are having a wonderful and safe Memorial Day weekend with your loved ones!

I also hope and pray that you will take a moment in the midst of family cookouts and lake trips to reflect on the meaning of Memorial Day.

Let us remember that our country has been built and sustained by the ultimate sacrifice of those men and women who believed in the ideal called FREEDOM so much that they risked and gave their lives so that we could enjoy those family cookouts and lake trips.

In a day and age when there are so many attempts to divide us as a nation, Memorial Day unites us – since the blood and sacrifice of Americans who died for our freedom know no boundaries of race, background, or affiliation.

Freedom isn’t free and as we are told in John 15:13, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” The Gospel is correct and demonstrates that we as Americans really do have an ideal worth fighting for and believing in.

The ideal called freedom will never die and is the reason that America is the hope of the world.

Saturday

January 21, 2012

The South Carolina 2012 Republican Presidential Preference Primary

The Edgefield County Republican Party announces the 2012 Republican Presidential Preference Primary to be held on Saturday, January 21, 2012. Registered voters of Edgefield County should report to their designated precincts between 7:00am & 7:00pm to cast their ballot. South Carolina has a distinguished history of deciding the eventual Republican nominee in every race since 1980. Let’s continue the tradition! Please vote on Saturday!

COUNTY – The Edgefield County Republican Party has a new chairman as of Tuesday night. District 2 County Councilman Rodney Ashcraft secured the position by a vote of members at a meeting to elect new leadership and delegates to the state convention. Bettis Rainsford Jr. was elected as Vice-chairman.

GOP Chairman Rodney Ashcraft said in an email, “I am excited as the new Chair of the Edgefield County GOP. I will strive towards standards that Edgefield County deserves.”

Ashcraft said,” (former chairman) Ralph McFarland has done a great job and brought us a long way and the new leadership of the party wishes to take the torch and continue on. We have a challenge in front of us as the 2012 election year will prove so. I say thank you to all of those who have supported me and will support our efforts in the future.”

Mr. Rainsford was unable to be reached for comment.

Seven delegates were name to represent Edgefield County at the state level, though their names were not available for this report.

EDGEFIELD – After more than a week of waiting Republican Shane Massey has been officially declared the winner in the District 25 Senate race. The State Election Commission is expected to certify all results today. Rep. Bill Clyburn told EdgefieldDaily.com Thursday morning that he called Senate-elect Massey and conceded the race. “I know we are 138 votes short and that’s not going to change,” Rep. Clyburn said as the four counties were in the process of the mandatory recount. “I’m eager to get to work for the people,” Senator-elect Massey said.

Senator-elect Massey said the first thing he wanted to do is, “to build bridges of cooperation,” and that he looks forward to working with Rep. Clyburn in Columbia to “effectively represent the people”. Massey said he does not expect to be sworn in to office until next week.

The election also has historical significance; it is the first time that a Republican has ever held the District 25 Senate seat. Shane Massey is also the youngest Senator in the state and expands the Republican majority in the SC Senate now totaling twenty-seven.

South Carolina Senate Republican Caucus Chairman Harvey Peeler said in a prepared statement, “I’m proud of the hard work Shane Massey has done to expand the Republican majority in the South Carolina Senate. Shane Massey’s message of smaller government and tax relief for South Carolina’s working families is proof positive that voters support the work of our Republican majority. This victory speaks volumes about Shane Massey’s character, intellect, and work ethic, and I couldn’t be more excited to have him join us.”

“I want to congratulate Shane Massey, his wife Blair and his campaign team on their historic win,” said South Carolina Republican Party Chairman Katon Dawson. “We are extremely excited to welcome Shane to Columbia, and we look forward to working with him to make state government effective and efficient.”

Senator-elect Massey will have to defend the seat in next year’s general election.